Reactions continued to denounce the statements of the Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, calling for burning the town of Hawara and erasing it from existence, while the occupation forces continued to besiege the town for the fifth day in a row.
The last of these positions came from the European Union office in occupied Jerusalem, which considered that the incitement of the Israeli Finance Minister against the town of Hawara was "unacceptable and an incitement to violence."
The Israeli Minister of Finance called, during his speech yesterday, Wednesday, at a conference organized by the Israeli economic site "Marker" in occupied Jerusalem, to erase the village of Hawara from existence.
In response to a question about why he liked the tweet of an Israeli extremist who tweeted after the Hawara village operation that the village should be erased today, Smotrich said, "Because I really believe that the village of Hawara should be wiped off the ground, and I believe that Israel should do that, not civilians."
Disgusting statements
US State Department spokesman Ned Price described Smotrich's statements as "irresponsible and disgusting," and Price called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly reject these statements, noting that they incite violence.
In the Palestinian reaction, Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh described Smotrich's statements as "terrorist and racist."
He said that it indicates a dangerous escalation against the Palestinians, and is capable of bringing the Israeli minister to international justice, as it was issued by an official body.
Hawara close
In the latest developments, the occupation forces continued to close the town of Hawara, but partially opened the town's road, while keeping all commercial shops in the village, south of Nablus, closed.
For its part, the municipality of Hawara, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, said that the Palestinian Civil Liaison informed it that the Israeli occupation forces allowed the opening of the doors of shops in the town, starting from tomorrow evening, Friday.
Local sources in Hawara indicated that the occupation forces today threatened the owners of pharmacies, bakeries and shops in the town with arrest and imposing financial fines if their doors were opened.
A European delegation is scheduled to visit Hawara tomorrow to see the extent of the violations left by the settlers' attack on the town under the protection of the occupation forces last Monday.
Siege of Jericho
In Jericho, the Israeli occupation forces re-established military checkpoints at the entrances to the city of Jericho in the West Bank.
A comprehensive strike took place in the city, mourning the soul of the martyr Mahmoud Hamdan, who was shot dead by the Israeli occupation during the storming of the "Aqabat Jabr" camp yesterday.
This comes after calls from several Palestinian factions for a comprehensive strike in the city, to condemn the ongoing occupation crimes against the Palestinians.
concrete wall
In the developments, the Israeli occupation army announced the completion of the construction of a concrete wall in the southern occupied West Bank.
The occupation army said that the wall extends to the borders of the Dead Sea at a distance of about 12 km, and the construction works of the wall began last April.
The occupation army claimed that the wall contributed to reducing the numbers of what it described as infiltrators into the Green Line, and in the northern West Bank, construction of a similar wall extending over a distance of about 100 kilometers continues.